it's up to you to be you.

As silly as it may sound, I almost got teary-eyed today, as I was helping one of my nearest and dearest friends set up for her fundraising event. I’m just so proud of her and all her efforts to raise money for and support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It’s a very special and personal cause to her, and I’m so happy that I can support her.

I think that much happiness can be found in the simple acts of caring. And as cheesy as I’m about to sound, I think doing something that puts a smile on someone else’s face, something that makes someone else feel loved, and feel special for no reason at all and every reason at the same time, matters more than a thousand stars in a jar--even, and sometimes especially, when that someone is a stranger. It’s the connection made in those moments in time that bond us as a human race. What Lala is doing sees no barriers or boundaries, colors or shades--it's one cause that affects a whole lot of people, from a whole lot of different places.

You know, I can’t even describe to you how warmed I was when I read a letter our office received a couple years ago in response to the Nashville flood. The sender enclosed with a letter, 5 $1 bills, a few envelopes, and some stamps. The sender asked our office to please send that money to anyone affected by the flood that might need it. I could tell this was not just spare change the sender had sent. It was true compassion. It was a neighbor caring.

I’ve said this countless times—and I know for a fact it’s what impressed whoever read my law school application, because that person wrote a note regarding it on my acceptance letter—that in all my travels, I’ve come to learn this: as different as we all are, no matter where we come from, we’re actually really quite similar. We all want a better future for our children. We desire education and love. We pray for good health for our family. In general, we share the same aspirations, though we may have different means of pursuing and achieving those aspirations. Some of us just choose to be blind. Some of us just don’t care. Many live behind a veil of hate, which in reality is just a disguise for fear and ignorance. But, imagine if we all cared just a little bit.

Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself…”